Monthly Archives: December 2012

Hello again – as promised I’m updating my blog a bit more regularly and remembering how it helps me to reflect on what I’ve been up to myself!

Since I last wrote I’ve been up to my usual things such as regular studio sessions – I’ve now got 10 tracks virtually finished for the second album – just have to put the tracks into an order that sounds right and get the final masters agreed.

I’ve been going to the Percussion Orchestra run by Alphonse Daudet Tuna in Bristol – great fun with people playing all sorts of different percussion instruments.

I had a lovely visit to my daughter while P was away helping to plan Kartong Festival in Gambia.

My lovely daughter and grand-daughter

He was gone for three weeks and I really missed him but got tons done! After visiting my daughter I went down to Suffolk to a great day of sabar drumming, a night in London with an old friend and a couple of nights with my dad and wife in Sussex before finally driving back to Bristol. It was a long road trip but got to see loads of people before the Christmas rush.

In between all this, Paddy (my music partner) and I organised our sixth Electrosonica evening with a great line up of artists and some rather experimental electronic music! Paddy and his partner also held a “Crafternoon” where people made lovely seasonal cards and ate mince pies and mulled wine at their house. Yummy.

Rozaya Hopkins singing with Elegance

Peter’s brother came to stay for a night and exchange presents and we went to the Colston Hall and saw Fily Cissohko play a wonderful lobby concert on kora with an Asian sitar player – beautiful.

Sunday morning we visited Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Centre near Bristol where we’er members and saw loads of beautiful birds and Sunday afternoon we went to the annual Bristol Gasworks Choir Christmas Concert at St Georges, which has the best acoustics for live unplugged music in Bristol.

Bristol Gasworks Choir

All weekend I couldn’t stop thinking about the poor little children shot to death in Connecticut and being so grateful that here in the UK although things are not perfect – the huge majority of people don’t believe it’s their “right” to be armed to the teeth.

Now it’s the Christmas preparations, shopping, wrapping and cooking with visitors from Sunday 23rd right through to the New Year – so don’t expect to see me here again till 2013!